Nation's Health is the key to state's progress and prosperity

Botschaft Usbekistan, January 29, 2016

Care for the health of every citizen has become one of the priority directions of Uzbekistan’s state policy from the early days of independence.

The national program for the protection of public health and education of harmoniously developed younger generation has set ambitious goals for the country on deep reformation and modernization of the medical field. As a result of its implementation, a strong foundation was created, on which the country’s health system is continuing to develop and update over the past years.

In his report on the socio-economic development of the country in 2015, President Islam Karimov noted that due to the implementation of measures, maternal deaths per 100 thousand live births dropped from 23.1 to 19 cases, the mortality rate of children under 5 years from 14.8 to 13.9. According to these indicators, our country has fully achieved relevant Millennium Development Goals.

The scale of the work, done in the area of work, speaks for itself. Thus, the country has formed a fundamentally new and unique, in its own way, a single system of providing in-free emergency medical care to the population over the years of independence that consists of specialized regional hospitals, and offices in cities and districts that meet the highest requirements and international standards. Republican Scientific Center for Emergency Medical Care has been created for management and coordination of their activities.

At the same time, more than 3200 rural health units were opened over the country, which play an extremely important role in strengthening the grass-roots health care system. They are all equipped with modern medical technology, and general practitioners provide primary health care in there, it is found in isolated cases in the world.

Optimization of the network of health care institutions are conducted at various levels, a compact are created, district associations and regional diversified centers, family clinics are equipped with modern technology and provided with qualified personnel.

Today, more than 10 republican specialized scientific and practical medical centers are functioning on the basis of scientific schools recognized in cardiology and cardiac surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, urology, ophthalmology, pulmonology and tuberculosis, endocrinology and others areas, and professionally trained staff of the highest categories work there that provide medical services with the modern high-tech equipment.

The country held free vaccination of all children, aged up to two years; it allows completely eliminating diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, polio. 100 per cent of children under the age of 14 years are covered twice a year by a thorough medical examination, and women of childbearing age once a year. Perinatal and screening centers of mothers and children operate in almost all regions of Uzbekistan. All pregnant women are provided with multivitamins, necessary for the formation of a healthy fetus, in rural areas at the expense of the state budget.

Work on strengthening the health system’s material-technical base and human capacities, its results are the establishment of new and reconstruction of existing health facilities and equipping them with the most advanced technology, training and retraining of highly qualified personnel. Every year funds amounting to 15.7 percent of the total expenditure of the state budget are allocated for the purposes, which amounts to 4.1 percent of GDP.

Thus, about 500 billion soums has been spent for construction, reconstruction, renovation and equipment of 141 health facilities in 2015. Works on reconstruction of National Children's bone-tuberculosis sanatorium, Urgench branch of the Tashkent Medical Academy, regional diversified medical centers in Andijan and Bukhara, regional children's multipurpose medical centers in Karshi and Samarkand were finished and they were put into operation, as well as medical associations in a number of regions of the republic. Rural medical centers’ optimization is completed by equipment them with modern diagnostic and medical technology.

All these efforts are aimed primarily at further improving the quality of population’s life, especially vulnerable categories of citizens. In this regard, annual state programs, initiated by the government and aimed at the realization of complex projects to strengthen and develop the social protection of various groups and socially important spheres, have been accepted for many years in the country.

Consistent and systematic implementation of these important initiatives demonstrates the state policy’s foresight and thoughtfulness, aimed at creating the conditions for birth and formation of a healthy generation. It, in turn, serves to achieve the long-term strategic goals: maintaining and improving the nation's gene pool, increasing length and quality of life. After all, the health of future generations is a guarantee of the state’s further progress and prosperity.

A logical extension of the large-scale work is the initiative of President Islam Karimov to declare 2016 the Year of healthy mother and child in Uzbekistan. In this regard, the head of state has put into focus the issues of ensuring the necessary social, household and medical conditions, especially for residents of rural and remote areas, further improving the legislation that concerns the protection of family, motherhood and childhood.

It is symbolic that construction of a modern multi-disciplinary children's clinic, worth 130.6 million dollars, will be completed this year in the capital, it was carried out in collaboration with partners from South Korea. Putting into operation the medical facility in the near future, the only in the CIS, the fourth of the highest level, will be another important step in raising a healthy generation.